The Rise of Lady Vader
by padmesanakin
Summary: In order to secure the safety of her home planet of Naboo (and spy for the early members of the Resistance), queen and former senator Padme Amidala must marry the Sith Lord Darth Vader. But her mission proves harder than she thought when she truly meets the man behind the mask.
1. Chapter 1

"Padme, are you sure?" Jobal, her mother, whispered. "I'm sure there's another way..."

She shook her head. "There isn't. I pledged to keep my people safe. That's what I'm doing." She blinked furiously, keeping back tears. "I'm doing what I couldn't when I was a part of the senate."

Padme's sister, Sola, entered the room and a protocol droid followed behind her. "I've got the dress, Padme." The droid unzipped the bag the long gown was cased in. It was beautiful; long, white with silver accents and accompanied with a lovely silver headpiece. Everyone in the room seemed to suck in a breath when they saw it. No doubt, the young queen would look lovely. "It's just a shame why you'll be wearing it," Sola told her.

"He's sparing no expense," Jobal said, looking at the gown her daughter was presented with.

Padme nodded. "He's got to put on a show, you know. People respected me, he thinks marrying me is a golden ticket to the respect _I _earned." She ran her hand gently over the silk of the dress, everything was how she dreamed it would be when she was a little girl. The dress, the decor, the guests. Well, almost everything. She thought marrying someone she loved would go without saying, but here she is. Marrying a man (man? thing? who knew what lived under the mask) she had never met.

There were three knocks on the door. The protocol droid opened the door enough to say "State your name, business."

"Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan, here to speak with the Queen." The droid looked at Padme, who nodded, and allowed the senator to enter.

"You can leave," Padme told the droid.

The droid tilted its head. "But, Mistress Padme, Lord Vader said to-"

Padme raised a hand to cut him off. "I don't care. You may leave now."

Once the droid had reluctantly gone, the Queen embraced her colleague. "You're sure about this, Padme?"

"How many times must I insist?" The young woman threw her hands up in frustration. "I will do whatever I must to protect the people of Naboo. And if I can help the Alliance along the way, then I will do that, too." Her frustration with her family and friends grew steadily. Of course she was sure. Her people needed her to be.

Bail nodded, understanding. "You're stronger than most realize, Padme." He smiled at his young friend. "Vader wants you ready in an hour. Is that doable?"

Sola stood from her chair in the corner. "It should be. Mother has just finished her hair and almost finished her makeup. After that is clothes, and then she'll be ready. Besides, a bride is always late. It's tradition.

"Ok, I will inform Lord Vader." Bail turned to walk out, of the room before he remembered something. "Here is a comlink, in case you need us. And a datapad, I'm certain you have your personal ones, but these are encrypted. Meant to handle Resistance dealings."

Padme took them, and looked them over briefly. "Thank you, Bail. Your kindness has been unmatched." She hugged her old friend once more, and then he turned and left.

"Ok, Sola. Let's finish up in here," Jobal told her eldest daughter and the women surrounded Padme again, readying her for the wedding the galaxy was dreading.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Are you ready, Vader?**_

_Yes, master. _

_**You know what you must do? To secure the future of the Sith?**_

_Yes, master. _

_**Then do it. **_

"Mistress Padme, Lord Vader is waiting."

"Thank you," Padme responded, waiving off the droid. "I will only be a moment."

Sola helped her sister gather the skirts of the wedding gown as they began to make their way through the Jedi Temple turned Empire fortress. "I love you, Padme. Please don't get yourself hurt," Sola whispered, knowing her words fell on deaf ears. When it came to her country, Padme didn't know where to stop.

"I love you, too, Sola." Padme smiled at her older sister, doing her best to hide her fear. Vader, and his generals, were on the other side of the door. And outside the temple, lined the people of Coruscant, and former Republic lawmakers. "But no promises," Padme winked playfully to her sister, and grabbed her hand. "Ok, I'm ready." The troopers guarding the doors opened them, and there, in the Jedi Order's former meeting grounds stood a Sith lord, waiting.

Padme felt Sola's hand grip her tighter, and she gave a reassuring squeeze. Or, as close to a reassuring squeeze as she could muster. There was no wedding music. She simply walked in silence, her and her sister's dresses sounded shockingly loud against the floor of the silent room. The swishing of the silk halted; they had reached the front of the room. Padme tried her hardest to keep her face expressionless.

A voice, and voice Padme knew quite well as the voice of Emperor Palpatine, rang through the halls, _**Take her hands. **_

Vader did as he was told, taking the small, pale hands of the young queen into his gloved ones, not taking care to be gentle.

_**Darth Vader, do you take Queen Padme Amidala of Naboo to be your wife, in the eyes of the Sith before you?**_

"I do." His voice was heavy, it struck Padme like a train. She'd heard recordings and stories of what it was like to hear Darth Vader's voice in person, but nothing could have prepared her. The sinister, non-stop mechanic breathing alone was enough to incite nightmares.

_**Queen Padme Amidala of Naboo, do you take Darth Vader to be your wife, and pledge to help him in his quests in the way of the Sith?**_

She swallowed, grounding herself. Making sure her voice did not shake, she replied, "I do."

And just like that it was over. There were no rings. But she did feel a force, whether it was the Force or not she did not know, begin to bind her to the thing in front of her.

Vader let go of one of her hands, grabbing the other, almost like a gentleman would, and began to guide her out of the temple. He was considerably taller than her, and took quick steps. She had to hurry to keep up, especially in the long dress without Sola there to help her. As they neared the doors of the Temple, Padme could hear chatter. She could not see them, but she knew those from Naboo that could afford to be here to support their queen, were. But she couldn't see them for the swarms of stormtroopers and Empire fighters that swarmed the streets, standing at attention. As they exited the temple, a voice in her head told her to smile, but she couldn't place the voice. It was a man's, but it wasn't Palpatine, Organa, or her father. But she did anyways. The smallest smile she'd ever given graced her face as she waded through the crowd to a small, sleek ship waiting in the street, surrounded by troopers.

Vader helped her inside, barely. She was left to gather the skirt of the dress into the ship on her own. She searched the crowd for Bail Organa, whom she assumed would have been waiting, but there were too many people waiting to catch their glimpse of the elusive Darth Vader. It was silent, unlike the other big weddings Padme had witnessed across the galaxy. It was unsettling. She didn't have to deal with it for long, as Lord Vader had boarded the ship and went to sit himself in front of the controls. Boarding behind him was an R2 unit and the protocol droid that had been bugging Padme since she'd arrived on Coruscant. _Not that one, _She thought, looking at the golden droid.

"Yes, that one," Vader said, monotone as ever. His sudden words made Padme jump, as she almost glared at him. "Introduce yourselves."

"I am C-3PO, human-cyborg relations. And this is R2-D2. It was an honor to meet you, Mistress Padme."

The astromech beeped at her and Padme smiled. "It's to meet you, too, C-3PO and R2-D2." Padme turned back to the windshield of the ship. "Where are we going?"

"Alderaan."

_Alderaan? Is Alderaan not peaceful? _Padme thought.

"It is. That is why we are going there. I know you are a diplomat, you do not wish to be caught in the crossfire of war. Senator Organa has offered us safe quarters on Alderaan, I know he was a friend of yours."

Padme smiled at the mention of her friend. "Yes, Senator Organa and I were close colleagues."

"Jumping to hyperspace," Vader said, and put the ship on autopilot. "Take over, 3PO."

Vader stood from his seat and walked to a closet compartment of the ship. Padme turned to watch him, uneasy with him out of her sight. He reached up, placed his gloved hands on the sides of the helmet and _click, hiss _he unfastened it. Gently, he removed it from his head and placed it in the compartment. Padme was shocked to say the least. He was handsome, a few years her junior at the most, with brown hair to his shoulders, and a single scar gracing his face over his right eye. "If you'll excuse me, Lady Vader, I must meditate."

With a wave of his hand, the door to the main compartment of the ship closed, leaving Padme and the droids alone. She sat for a moment, looking at the closed door trying to process the man under the mask. She was prepared for him to be nothing but a robot, or some kind of strange monstrous species, not a man she could so easily call handsome. Then her attention shifted to being called 'Lady Vader'. Her days as Queen Amidala or Senator Amidala were over, it seemed. There were no queens in the eyes of the Empire.

She didn't know how long she'd be thinking about _him _or her new title, but soon C-3PO announced they were leaving hyperspace and arriving on Alderaan.

The door opened again, and Vader appeared, mask and all. "We've arrived?"

"Yes, Lord Vader. We've arrived at the estate on Alderaan."

Vader exited the ship, and helped Padme and her dress out onto the landing pad as well.

The house was beautiful. Small, quiet. A small lake sat to the left of the house, which glowed a lovely pink in the Alderaan sunset. "It looks like Naboo," Padme whispered.

"Yes," Vader said. Padme could sense some emotion, but the mask wouldn't let him convey it. "I hoped it would make you comfortable. I do not wish you to be scared here, Lady Vader."

"Thank you, Lord Vader," she paused. "But I cannot stand being addressed formally all the time, please, call me Padme." He nodded.

Padme looked around once she was inside. It was sleek, everything inside were new, high end electronics and furniture. C-3PO, followed closely by R2-D2, made his way into the kitchen. Vader was the last one inside, and once he was he retired to what Padme assumed was the master bedroom. She decided to follow the droids to the kitchen.

"Do you think you could get me some water, C-3PO?" Padme asked the droid.

C-3PO replies, "Yes, of course Mistress Padme. You may call me 3PO, you know. It's what everyone calls me."

"Ok, 3PO," Padme told him with a warm smile. 3Po brought her a glass of water and she sat at the table. Out of her small bag she pulled the comlink Senator Organa had given her. "Senator Organa?" she whispered into it, "It's Padme Amidala."

"Who are you speaking to?" Vader asked from the entrance of the kitchen. He wasn't wearing that bulky suit anymore, he was wearing robes very similar to the robes Padme knew belonged to the Jedi. He was shorter than he was in the suit, and a little scrawnier than she'd expected. But then again, she didn't expect anything about him.

"I was trying to speak with my mother. But I'm sure she's asleep, tired after helping all day," she told him.

He nodded. He could see through her lie, she could tell. "I understand. My mother would've been the same way."

"Your mother?" Padme's eyes grew wide, she was scared she'd offended him. She usually controls herself quite well.

He laughed a little. "Yes, my mother. She was the kindest woman in the galaxy." He smiled lightly, but it wasn't long before his features returned to their normal, nonchalant expression.

"Oh," Padme said, surprised that he had a mother. She wasn't sure why she was surprised, of course he had a mother. She assumed that Vader's mother had died, the way he spoke of her was too bittersweet. Too reminiscent.

Vader turned back to Padme. "Yes, she died. When I was training to be a Jedi, she was killed."

Padme looked at him like a deer caught in headlights. A Jedi? No one had said he had trained to be a Jedi. It made sense of course, but still. It seemed...strange. "Please, Lord Vader, if you could try your hardest to not read my mind or at least allow me to believe you don't it would be much appreciated." She paused for a moment, realizing how harsh she had been to the man who had just told her about his dead mother. "And I'm sorry about your mother. Truly."

"No, you're fine. Nothing to be sorry about, you didn't kill her." He meant it as a joke, as he laughed, but Padme just smiled. She was never going to figure him out. But she was going to try her hardest.


End file.
